Vehicle-wheel.



PATENTED FEB. 11, 1908. A. SULLIVAN.

VEHICLE WHEEL. ARPLIGATION FILED APR.17,1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1v PATENTED FEB. 11, 1908.

SULLIVAN. VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLIUATION FILED APRJY, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

Jlwz Jul Z c0007.

0 W 6; .JJQFFI/L'LL UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIOE'.

ALAN sULLIyaN, or TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, ixssrcnoa TO GRAHAME onrcaoo,

JONES, or ILLINOIS.

VEHICLE-WHEEL.

Specification. of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1908.

Application fil d April 1'7. 1907. Serial No. 368-632.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALAN SULLIVAN, a citizen of Toronto, Canada, and a resident of Toronto, in the Province of Ontario, Canada,

have, invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle-Wheels; and I do that class of such wheelsin which the yieldmg or resilientrnember of thewheel is interosed between the axle and an annular memer .which surroundsthe axle and on which the wheel hub turns.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter more particularly described and pointed out in the appended'claims.

My invention may be better understood a by reference to the accompanying drawings,

in Which,

Figure 1 1s an axlal section of my improved hub. Fig. 2 is a cross-section On the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on the line 33-of Fig. 1. 0n the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.. Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspectivev view of a portion of one vice.

v vice.

of the ball caging rings included in my dc- Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of one of the ball caging rings for the thrust bearings included in my de- I have shown in said drawings a form of my improved hub. especially adapted for the drive wheels of automobiles or other mechanically propelled vehicles, but my improve-d As shown in said drawings, A indicates the .non-rotative rear axle of an automobile or other mechanically propelled. vehicle.

B lnchcates a non-rotatlve grooved ring or a sleeve,'conveniently made in two parts meetsecured upon the said axle A by means of a ing in a plane transverse to the axle A and key I).

0 indicates an annular flexible tube con- Fig. 4 isa cross-section its outer peri gieral surface a non-rotative bearing ring Said flexlble tube 0 is, when the parts are in condition for operation, filled with air under pressure and is provided with an inflating valve 0 of any usual or preferred form. The groovedsleeve B is shaped to form an annular, concave seat for U the tube C, adapted to hold said tube in place or to prevent it moving or shifting endwise to the axle. Said sleeve B is made con siderably longer than the diameter of the tube, and the groove therein, which is nearly semi-circular in cross-sectional form, is con,- jsiderably wider than the diameter of the tube, so that room will be aflorded. for the latter to spread sidewise when compressed or partially flattened. The bearing ring D is shown as made of cylindric form and as fitting closely around the tube C, being preferably provided with a slight groove orde pression in its inner surface to receive the peripheral part of the said tube. Said ring D is shown as made somewhat narrower than the length of the sleeve B, so'that its side edges will come inside of, Orwill not strike the outwardly projecting annular end portions or flanges or the sleeve in case of extreme com pressicn of the tube.

The main part or body of the wheel hub consists of a ring or cylinder E provided on its outer peripheral surface with sockets e' adapted to receive the inner ends of the wheel spokes. the tube C as aforesaid, constitutes in effect the bearing or ournal for the body E of the hub, which latter turns or rotates on said bearing ring; anti-friction ball bearings being provided between said bearing ring and hub body E as hereinafter described.

F and F indicate thrust plates or disks which are'non-rotatively secured to the axle A exterior to the ends of the sleeve B and which extend outwardly from the axle so as to engage the ends of the wheel hub and take the end thrust of the latter, Said disks F F are shown in the accompanying drawings as having screw-threaded connection with the axle A, the screw-threads being preferably arranged in such manner that any tendency Of said plates to turn by frictional engagement with the hub will cause them to be tightened upon the axle. The inner dislcF is shown ashaving its central part in stituting a pneumatic cushion, encircling 1 bearing againstan outwardlyiacing shoulder Said-grooved sleeve B and supporting upon l on the axle, whlle the outer disk F118 secured 110 The'bearing ring D, supported on on the axle by a lock nut The cylindric body E of the wheel hub 1s provided at its ends with inwardly extending annular flanges, or flange-rings E and E rigidly attached thereto and extending inwardly along the inner faces of the disks F and F The inner margins of said flange-rings E and E extend into the spaces or grooves formed between the ends of said sleeveB and, the inner parts of said disks F F Said inwardly extending flange-rings E, E serve to transmit the end thrust of the wheel hub to the said disks F F, and have bearing engagement with the said disks F and F, preferabl through the medium of anti-friction bal bearings interposed between said parts, as hereinafter described.

As illustrated in the drawings, the flangering E is formed integral with the inner end of the cylindric hub body E, while the flangering E is madeseparate from and is detachabl secured to the outer end of the hub body. In the particular construction shown, the hub body E is provided at its outer end with an outwardlyextending integral flange e to which the outer marginal part of the flange-ring E is secured by means of screws e Said flange ring is further secured to the hub body by means of an encircling ring secured to the said flange-ring and to the flange e by means of screws 1;. Upon the inner margin of the cylindric body E of the hub is an outwardly extending rim g, having the form of an integral flange n srd body E, and to'which is bolted a spr cket ing G constituting the driving sprocllet f-J'r the wheel. By removing the outer disk F from by means of 111W ardly projecting,

the axle and detaching the flange-ring E from the hub body; access may be had to the inflating valve 0 of the tube 0.

In the operation of the wheel made as described, the axle A, the sleeve B, flexible tube C and ring D are non-rotative, while the wheel-hub embracing the cylindric body E and the flanges E and E turn on or are.

carried by the ring D. The tube C being distended by the pressure of the air rein, tends to retain the ring D in a concentric position relatively to the axle A while being adapted to yield by compression of its lower p)art to permit vertical movement of the ring and the wheel hub relatively to the axle, the said tube, by its resiliency or cushioning The engagement of the r action, serving to absorb shocks or jars comof the ball. containing recesses.

by their engagement with the disks F F in.

the axle, serve to hold said hub from moving flange rings or shifting endwise relatively to the axle and maintain the central axis of the wheel paral-.

lelwith the cer tral axis of the axle while at I the same time permitting free vertical move- .In a space between the outer peripheral surface of said ring D and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindric body E of the hub, are located two sets of balls H which. bear against or move in contact with annular outwardly and inw'ardly'facing bearing surfaces on said ring D and hub E. Said ballsare held orconfined in two caging rings H H which caging rings are provided with recesses for receiving the balls, which recesses open faces of the caging rings, the balls being of such diameter as to extend beyond the inner and outer peripheral surfaces of said rings; As shown in Fi 5, each of the rings H consists'bf a plurality of inner and outer overlapping, curved segments h h secured together by means of screws 11. The ball receiving recesses areformed in each instance, one-half in an outer and one-half in an'inner segment; the'ring being made in parts or segments in order to permit the insertion of the 'balls in the said recesses. The said caging rings withthe balls H carried thereby are shown as held in position adjacent to the opposite side marginsof the cylindric ring I) integral annular flanges 2"" 0 formed on the inner peripheral surfaceof said body E' of the hub and constituting grooves in which the said caging rings are placed and held.

T he anti-friction ball bearings between the stationary disks F and F on theaxle and the E E on the wheel hub arev Inthe adjacent faces of said disks F and F and flanges E and E are formed wide, at .iular recesses, which together constitute spaces or chambers, each adaptedxto" receive one of the sets of balls I I, vwhich balls are adapted to bear against made as l'ohons:

.the opposing, parallel, flat bearing faces of the said disks and flange-rings. tach setof balls is held in a caging ring 1 which latter are provided with recesses opening through ing rings I I consist each of two flat rings each ring c i i secured together by screws it, and t having formed therein one half of each The diam eter of each caging ring I I is than through the inner and outer I the smaller diameters of the annular recesses in the disks F and F and flange-rings. E

i I ll E and smaller than the larger diameter of said recesses; The anti-friction balls' arranged as described are manifestly adapted to take the end. thrust of the hub in both directions while, at the same time, permitting universal movement or movement in all directions of the hub relatively to the axle, in aplane perpendicular to said axle. It may be observed in connection with the caging rings arranged as described, that when the hub is not rotating the saidrin gs may drop down until they rest in the bot toms of therecesses in which they are located, but when the hub is turning the centrifugal force generated will tend to bring said .caging rings into a position concentric with the hub.

It will be manifest that instead of the flexible tube Q constituting a pneumatic cushion, any other form of cushioning or resilient ring or annulus may be interposed between the sleeve B and the bearing ring D, and I do not, therefore, wish to have my invention limited to thisrespect, except so far as the specific construction illustrated may be particularly claimed in the appended claims.-

I. claim as my invention 1 The comblnationwlth anon-rotative axle I provided with an annular seat, of a non-rotative bearing ring surrounding said axle, an

, annular, resilient cushion member interposed between said seat and the said bearing ring,

a Wheel-hub surrounding and turning on said bearing ring, said-wheel-hub being provided at its ends with annular, inwardly extending flange-rings, disks attached to and extending outwardly from the axle exterior to and in overlappingrelation to the said flange-rings, the disk on the outer end of the axle and the flange-ring on the outer end of the hub being vdetachably secured to said axle and hub to permit the assembling and separation of the parts.

2. The combination'with a non-rotative axle provided with a sleeve having an annular seat, of a non-rotative bearing ring surroundlng sald, axle, an annular, resilient, cushion member interposed between said seat and the said bearingring,-a wheel-hub surrings for saidballs, and dis rounding and turning on said bearing ring,

' anti-friction bail bea rings between. said hub and the said bearing ring comprising a plu rality of sets of balls and a plurality of caging s attached to the axle and extending outwardly therefrom into engagement with the ends of the wheel-hub.

H 3. The combination with a non-rotative axle provided with a sleeve having an annular seat, of a non-rotative bearing ring surrounding said axle, an annular, resilient, cushion member interposed between said seat and the said bearing ring, a wheel hub turning on said bearing'ring and provided at its ends with flange-rings, disks attached to and extending outwardly from the axle in overlapping relation to the saidflange'erings, anti-friction ball bearings between the said disks and flange-rings embracing balls interposed between flat, parallel bearing surfaces on the disks and flange-rings, and eagingi rings for said balls.

, 4. The combination with a n0nrotative axle provided with a sleeve having an annular seat, of a non-rotative bearing ring sur-.

rounding said axle, an annular, resilient,

cushion member interposed between said' bearings between the said disks and the flange-rings on the hub, comprising. balls lo-g cated between flat, parallel opp'osing faces on the said .disks and flange-rings and caging rings for said balls.

5. The combination with a 'non-rotative axle provided with a sleeve having an annu lar seat, of a I'lOII-IOtfitlVB bearing ring surrounding said axle, an annular, resilient,

cushion member interposed between the said seat and the bearing ring, a wheel-hub surrounding and turning on said bearing ring, disks secured to the axle and extending out,

wardly therefrom into engagement with the ends of the wheel-hub to take the end thrust of the latter, and an annular sprocket ring secured to one end of said wheel-hub.

, In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I ailix in y signature in the presence ofitwo witnesses, this eleventh day of April A. D1907, I

ALAN SUI iLIVAN.

VVitne-sses:

FRED. B. Fnrnnns'ronnaucn, 13. Born. 

